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No. 6|3,375. Patented Nov. I, I898.

L. KELLUGG. HOBBY HORSE.

(Application filed. Jan. 28, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUKE L. KELLOGG, OF LEON, NEW YORK.

HOBBY-HORSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 613,375, dated November 1, 1898. Application filed January 28, 1898. Serial No- 6685311. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LUKE L. KELLOGG, a citizen of the United .States,'residing at Leon, in the county of Cattaraugus and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Hobby- Horse, 'of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in hobby-horses especially designed to afford exercise and amusement for children; and the primary object that I have in view is to provide a simple, cheap, and easily-controlled wheeled structure which may be ridden by children in the open air for exercising and amusement purposes. 7 v

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved structure in which the steering or pilot wheel may be readily reversed to enable the pedal-shaft to be brought close to or moved farther away from the riders seat on the horse, and also to'provide for vertical adjustment of the pedal-shaft and rear axle with relation to the body, thus enabling the structure to be used-advantageously by children of different sizes.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved structure in which the vertical adjustment of the pedal-shaft may be effected without the liability of the steeringspindle dropping out of place in the horses body during the adjustment of such pedalshaft and the steering or pilot wheel mounted thereon.

With these ends in view my invention consists in the novel combination of elements and in the construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment thereof in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, to show the front of the body in section. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional elevation on the plane indicated by the dotted line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is'a detail view showing the construction by which the rear axle may be adjusted vertically on the hind legs of the hobby-horse. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of part of the forked end of the steering-spindle, showing the eyebolt attached thereto to assist in supporting the axle.

Like numerals of reference denote like and corresponding parts in each of the several figures of the drawings.

My improved hobby-horse somewhat resembles a three-wheeled velocipede, and in Fig. 1 of the drawings I have illustrated the complete structure, in which 1 indicates the body, 2 the head, and 3 is the saddle or riders seat. These parts may all be of the ordinary construction familiar to those skilled in the art, and no novelty therefor is claimed in this ap- 1 plication.

Instead of providing the hobby-horse with the usual frontlegs I construct the front part of the body with. a vertical opening 4, which opens through the lower side of the body, at the front end thereof, and through the neck of the horse, and in this vertical opening is arranged a rotatable steering-spindle 5. The spindle extends upwardly above the horse in front of the seat or saddle 3, and to the upper end of the spindle is secured a transverse handle-bar 6, which is within convenient reach of the rider to be grasped by hand and adapted to be manipulated or turned for the purpose of adjusting the spindle 5 and the steering or pilot wheel for properly guiding the hobby-horse in its course. The lower end of the spindle is formed into a vertical fork 7, which at its juncture with the spindle provides a shoulder 7, adapted to bear against the lower side of the body 1, around the orifice or the vertical opening therein, said shoulder and the fork being designed to sustain the weight-of. the'body and its load at the front end of thefhobby-horse. To prevent the spindle from having endwise movement or displacementin the body, particularly when adjusting the pedal shaft and pilot-wheel vertically on the fork 7, I provide the spindle at a point intermediate of its length with a circumferential groove 8, which.

receives the inner end of a stop-pin 9, fitted removably in an opening 10, provided in one side of the body in a plane at right angles to the opening 4 therein. The pin is practically fixed in the body, and it engages with the grooved part of the steering-spindle to restrain the latter against endwise disp1ace ment; but the spindle is free to turn axially in its bearing in the body, because the inner end of the pin 9 will play in the groove 8 of said spindle.

The members of the fork 7, forming a part of the steeringspindle, are provided with transverse openings 11, a vertical series of which is provided in each member of the fork. The pedal-shaft 1'4 is arranged transversely across and on the outside of the members of the fork 7, and said shaft is of sufficient length to have its ends protrude from opposite sides of the fork 7. The pedal-shaft is thus offset in relation to the fork of the steering-spindle, and said shaft is journaled on the fork and operatively connected therewith by the eyebolts 12. The eyebolts are attached to the members of the fork to have the openings thereof coincident with each other, and the shanks of said eyebolts are passed through the apertures 11 in the members of the fork, the rear threaded ends of the bolt-shanks receiving the nuts 13, which bear against the rear sides of the fork members and hold the eyebolts rigidly in place on the fork. The pedal-shaft is loosely journaled in the eyes of the bolts 12, and to the -protruding ends of said shaft are attached the oppositely-arranged cranks 15, the outer ends of which carry the pedals 16, of the usual or any preferred construction.

The steering or pilot wheel 17 is mounted rigidly on the pedal-shaft at a point between the eyebolts 12, and said steering-wheel is in compact relation to the steering-fork because it lies or passes between the members of said fork. The steering-wheel being fast on the axle it is adapted to rotate with said axle or shaft 1i, and when the rider rotates the pedalcranks on said shaft 14 the wheel 17 is driven to propel the hobby-horse over the ground or street.

18 designates the rear axle, having the carrying-wheels 19 mounted on the ends thereof, which protrude beyond the sides of the hobbyhorse. The rear axle is supported in place by means of the eyebolts 20, which fit on the axle and have their threaded shanks passed through openings 21 in the hind legs 22 of the hobby-horse. A vertical series of these openings 21 are provided in the hind legs of the horse, and the eyebolts may readily be withdrawn from certain of the openings and inserted in other openings to support the rear axle at different elevations on the legs 22.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the operator occupying the saddle 3 is able to propel the cranks of the pedal-shaft and rotate the front wheel for the proper propulsion of the vehicle, and at the same time the handle-bar 6 may be turned to deflect the pilot or steering wheel and thereby steer the vehicle in the desired course. The steering-spindle may be given a half-turn in its bearing 4 in the hobby-horse to bring the offset pedal-shaft 14 in close relation to the seat or saddle 3, thus enabling the hobbyhorse to be used by children of small size; but when the vehicle is to be used by larger children the steering-spindle is reversed to cause the eyebolts and pedal-shaft to lie on the front side of the fork, thus throwing the pedal-shaft farther away from the riders seat or saddle. The eyebolts 12 may be adjusted vertically in any of the apertures 11 in the front fork, and thus the pedal-shaft may be raised or lowered on said front fork to enable the hobby-horse to be used by children of different sizes.

The improved structure is simple and cheap in construction, readily adjustable to accommodate children of different sizes, is efficient in service, and is durable, so that it cannot readily be broken 01' injured.

It is evident that changes in the form and proportion of parts may be made by askilled mechanic without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. Ahobby-horse comprisingabody, a spindle journaled in said body for reversal and free axial movement therein and provided with the standards, the vertically-adjustable bearings fitted against one side of the standards to occupy a position out of the central line thereof and project from the standards at all points of its adjustment thereon, a pedal-shaft journaled in said bearings, and a driving-wheel, substantially as described.

2. A hobby-horse comprising a body having the vertical spindle-opening, the grooved spindle journaled in said body for reversal therein and held against displacement by the stop-pin, the perforated front legs rigid with said spindle, the perforated rear legs fast with the body, vertically-adjustable eyeformed bolts fitted to said legs to be shiftable in the openings therein, a pedal-shaft journaled in the eyebolts on the front legs and having a driving-wheel, and the wheeled rear axle journaled in the eyebolts on the real-legs, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LUKE L. KELLOGG.

Witnesses:

E. W. CLARK, J. M. AOKLEY. 

